Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

A sher fell silent, letting that sink in. A gentle pulse of concern from Talon filled her— he was checking on her without intruding. The gesture made something warm unfurl in her chest.

“I don’t know how to do this,” she admitted quietly. “The whole... feeling things openly. Being vulnerable. Letting someone in completely.”

“Pretty sure that’s what the mate bond is for.” Kaylee squeezed her hand. “Built-in trust fall with bonus dragons.”

“And electricity,” Lori added. “Don’t forget the part where you can now literally light up his life.”

Asher threw another pillow at her, but she was smiling. “You know what’s really crazy? Even with all this...” she gestured at herself, “transformation chaos, the scariest part is how much I want this. Him. Us. Everything.”

“That’s not scary,” Kaylee said gently. “That’s brave.”

As the night wound down, Asher found herself by the window, absently playing with sparks between her fingers while her friends cleaned up their pizza massacre. The city lights blurred through unshed tears—not of sadness, but of overwhelming emotion she was only now letting herself feel.

“I knew I was going to die,” she said softly. Her friends stilled behind her. “Not eventually, but soon. Really soon. I could feel it getting worse, no matter how much I pretended everything was fine.”

Kaylee moved to one side of her, Lori to the other.

“That’s why you took the risk?” Lori’s usual snark gave way to understanding. “Not just for science?”

“Science was safer to think about than...” Asher swallowed hard. “Than dying before I ever got to experience any of this.” She smiled slightly. “Though I didn’t expect my ridiculously attractive boss to moonlight as a dragon.”

“Life’s funny that way.” Kaylee bumped her shoulder gently. “One minute you’re pining over the CEO, the next minute you’re his magically destined mate.”

“While gaining the ability to short-circuit his entire building,” Lori added. “Which, by the way, is an excellent negotiating tactic for your next performance review.”

Asher laughed despite herself, even as she felt Talon’s immediate concern at her spike of emotion. She sent back a gentle pulse of reassurance, marveling at how natural it felt.

“He’s checking on you, isn’t he?” Kaylee’s voice softened at Asher’s nod. “You know, for someone who claims not to understand love, you’re already pretty good at it.”

“That’s not... I mean, I’m just...”

“Caring about his feelings? Wanting him to be happy? Letting him care about you?” Lori ticked off points on her fingers. “Sounds pretty love-adjacent to me.”

“It’s different,” Asher protested weakly. “It’s biology and magic and very complicated dragon chemistry.”

“And the fact that your whole face lights up when you talk about him?”

“Enhanced dragon bioluminescence?”

“Asher.” Both friends fixed her with knowing looks.

“Fine.” She crossed her arms. “Maybe I like that he makes me feel safe without making me feel weak. And that he respects my brain while apparently finding it attractive when I argue with him. And that he...” She flushed slightly. “That he looks at me like I’m precious and powerful all at once.”

“That’s it.” Kaylee hugged her fiercely. “That’s exactly it.”

Asher felt Talon’s reaction to her surge of emotion—warm and steady and absolutely certain. Like he’d been waiting centuries just for her.

Maybe her friends were right. Maybe she didn’t need to understand everything about love to start experiencing it. Maybe she could just... feel it. All of it. The attraction, the connection, the bone-deep certainty that somehow, impossibly, she’d found exactly where she belonged.

Even if where she belonged involved scales, lightning powers, and an overwhelming urge to kiss her boss senseless.

“You’re thinking about kissing him again, aren’t you?” Lori’s voice broke through her thoughts.

“I’m thinking about a lot of things.” But Asher smiled. “Some of which may involve inappropriate uses of his private office.”